Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Gloria Stuart (Irene von Hellsdorf), Lionel Atwill (Robert von Hellsdorf, her father), Paul Lukas (Captain William Brink, her suitor), Edward Arnold (Commissioner Foster), Onslow Stevens (Frank Faber), William Janney (Thomas Brandt), Robert Barrat (Paul, the butler), Muriel Kirkland (Betty, the maid), Russell Hopton (Max, the chauffeur), Elizabeth Patterson (Mary, the cook), James Durkin (Foster's assistant), Anders van Haden (strange man).Director: KURT NEUMANN. Screenplay: William Hurlbutt. Story: Erich Philippi. Photography: Charles Stumar. Art director: Stanley Fleischer. Music: Heinz Letton (from the 1932 German movie of Erich Engels). Music director: Abe Meyer. Film editor: Philip Cahn. Associate producer: Henry Henigson. Producer: Carl Laemmle, Jr. Copyright 14 July 1933 by Universal Pictures Corp. Presented by Carl Laemmle. New York opening at the Rialto: 12 September 1933. U.S. release: 20 July 1933. 7 reels. 66 minutes. COMMENT: A surprisingly effective "old house" mystery with an intriguing script, interesting characters and well-paced dialogue. And for this viewer there were at least three big surprises. I expected solid performances from most of the players, but what I didn't expect was a real bobby-dazzler of a climax from both script and art director (of all people!). Suddenly we are presented with really magnificent sets. Also unexpected is the astutely atmospheric direction from a "B"-grade hack like Kurt Neumann. And for once the absence of background music (often a killer in early talkies) contributes rather than detracts from the cleverly built-up suspense.OTHER VIEWS: A feast of really creepy art direction in the final reel puts this Universal creeper into the must-see category. The suspense comes across in spades, thanks to Neumann's exciting, fluid direction, and despite stiff acting by nearly all the principals except the ever-reliable Edward Arnold. Most viewers will guess at least one of the blue room's secrets, but there are surprises galore!

I last saw this film 30 years ago, remembering only the final chase down the innumerable underground stairs. Seeing it again I see why that's all I remembered. There is no feeling of suspense. The lighting is bright and uninteresting, the directing bland, the actors simply walking through their roles with some of them being downright amateurish. Lionel Atwill shows not a trace of evil intent, immediately removing him as a red herring. The three suitors have no chemistry with Gloria Stuart or for that matter with each other. The only actor that adds some mystery to the film is Robert Barrat as the butler. The under-appreciated Barrat could play anything believably - judge, madman, sophisticated jewel thief.A few comments about the accuracy of previous reviewers' statements. The Swan Lake title theme was used for Dracula but amended for The Mummy and as such used for Murders in the Rue Morgue and Blue Room. A short studio composed prologue was added as the faces of the pyramid rotated.No sets from The Old Dark House were used in Secret of the Blue Room. It is possible that some details such as wood paneling and stair case portions were re-used.The lowest staircase is identified as the cellar from Frankenstein. This is problematic. The Frankenstein set had a solid floor; Blue Room had flowing water. This same set with rushing water was rented for White Zombie, intimating that it was new or substantially rebuilt for an unknown Universal film subsequent to Frankenstein. Blue Room also had a stone arch in the foreground, lacking in the Frankenstein cellar.Paul Lukas was not imitating Bela Lugosi; he had an identical accent.

A castle with a closed off room is the setting for this murder mystery that features a group of men who dare one another to sleep in the castle's "haunted" room to prove their manhood to the movie's eligible bachelorette, Irene.There isn't much going on with that plot, so the film gives us a subplot involving the servants and their affairs. Meanwhile, the men staying in the "Blue Room" either disappear or are murdered one by one, while Irene watches on in helpless horror.Interestingly, this is a Universal Pictures release, and while it's got no monsters in it, it is obviously intended as a riff on "The Old Dark House" (Irene is actually played by Gloria Stuart, a holdout from the cast of "The Old Dark House"). The Gothic elements of the setting are played to the hilt, with stormy weather, dark hallways, secret passages, and hidden agendas going on all around. The sets are spooky without being covered in cobwebs, although a scene later in the movie involves a chase through a hidden hallway that finally gives us some webs. These cliché aesthetics are offset by the extremely dated attitudes and humor in the film, intentional and otherwise. You start to wonder what these characters do in their lives. It's easy to understand why Irene and her father are idle, because they are rich, but what are the other three men doing there, and why does Irene's father host them? Why does it seem they've been living there for months on end with no real purpose? In this way, the movie entertains as a period fantasy, giving us characters who have no responsibility other than to dress in formal wear for dinner and tell ghost stories in the sitting room late at night.Overall the movie is very slight, and there's not much to revisit once the film's rather obvious secret is out and you find out whodunit. But those with an affection for the old dark house trappings will definitely want to pay a visit.

Because it was released by the premier horror studio Universal, focuses on an old castle with a spooky room, and features horror star Lionel Atwill, SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM has been marketed as a horror film throughout the year. It's actually a whodunit with horror elements that influence but never dominate the film. But it would be close-minded to reject this film just because it's not a full-fledged chiller. SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM is an enjoyable film that projects an air of menacing mystery and efficiently moves the plot with a palpable suspense until the movie's resolution.SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM benefits from attractive sets (leftover from THE OLD DARK HOUSE and FRANKENSTEIN) that convey an ornate yet forbidding castle milieu. Director Kurt Neumann, while no stylist in the James Whale vein, effectively utilizes the setting's atmospheric potential. He provides a suitably eerie aura with taste and restraint, avoiding obvious stunts like self-playing pianos. Such gimmicks would damage the film's mood and credibility.On the whole, performances are good. The actors and actresses provide believable characterizations that help propel the plot. Particularly impressive are Lionel Atwill as the castle owner troubled by his estate's secrets and Edward Arnold as a detective who handles the castle's mysteries in a domineering, no-nonsense manner. Elizabeth Patterson is mildly annoying as a terrified maid, but fortunately her performance doesn't affect BLUE ROOM's atmosphere.Curiously, a few of the plot's riddles remain unexplained at the film's end. It would have been logical for Universal to provide a sequel with the same fine cast in order to resolve everything. Instead, the studio chose to remake the film twice with different performers. But BLUE ROOM's minor plot holes shouldn't detract one from enjoying this well-made mystery.